Where I go…listening to understand
When the price of fuel drops to around the dollar a litre mark, it invariably triggers a mad rush to the pumps, everyone keen to get a tank full of the latest bargain in town.
And, so it was last week when I joined the masses, lining up, to get to the forecourt pumps. I could almost hear everyone’s brain slowly ticking over as they tried to fathom which side the fuel cap was on and which queue would need to be joined.
That’s when I looked over and saw that of the four lanes, three were queued up, the other was empty, just like my tank. Alas, it didn’t tally with my fuel cap side but I thought I’d take a punt anyway, placing my faith in this steadfast necessity being fitted with one of those extra-long extendable hoses that allow you to drag them over the roof of the car or around the back window before fitting the nozzle snugly into your tank opening.
Luck was with me…it reached and I made the most of my good fortune, feeling a tad smug as I filled up promptly while gazing over those who’d arrived well before me; but were clearly risk-averse and paid for it by still being in the queue.
Luck was also with the lady in front of me at the check-out but for some reason she chose to ignore it, fuelling my fascination in her behaviour – pardon the pun.
This lady presents her shopper docket from a well-known supermarket chain and is just about to receive her discount when the kind and friendly young cashier says: “Maam, if you spend another $4.76, you will get $8 off your fuel…”
But before he can complete his sentence, she interjects with a blunt “no thanks". He’s a little perplexed – as am I – so he tries again: “Maam, if you would like to pick anything in the shop for $4.76 I can give it to you for free and take a little over $3 off the price of your fuel…”
She’s now visibly irate and snaps “I just want fuel, okay!"
As she left huffing and puffing, my earlier luck ran dry as the cashier didn’t offer me such a no-brainer bargain. But, it did have me trying to rationalise her thought process.
Maybe she hadn’t heard him properly, perhaps she was distracted or in a rush. Whatever it was, it was to her detriment. How different it could have been had she appreciated that not all sales people are selling you something you don't want or need.
We all need reminding every now and again that communication fails to work when we stop listening to understand and we only listen to reply.
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